INTRODUCTION

1.1.
Background

The Federal Government of Somalia (FGS) developed this Resettlement Policy Framework (RPF) for
the World Bank-funded program known as the “Somalia Food Systems Resilience Project (S-FSRP). The
RPF will serve as one of the environmental and social (E&S) instruments required to address and manage
E&S impacts associated with the S-FSRP Project under the World Bank’s Environmental and Social
Framework (ESF).

Recovering from conflict, Somalia has been on a trajectory toward political stabilization and
reconstruction. In 2012, a Provisional Constitution was adopted, establishing the Federal Government of
Somalia (FGS). Following this political transition and the establishment of Federal Member States (FMSs),
the 2017 elections were peaceful and established the current administration. The sustained political,
economic, and institutional reforms have enabled the rebuilding of core state functions, though the
country’s fiscal position remains largely supported by official development assistance, remittances, and
foreign direct investment. The country still faces persistent insecurity, conflict, and unresolved political
tensions, as demonstrated by the delay of the elections from 2020 to 2022. A new President was officially
inaugurated on June 9, 2022.

Poverty in Somalia remains widespread, limiting coping capacity to shocks. An estimated 72 percent
of the population lived below the poverty line in 2021 with the majority of the population having
experienced a reduction in income compared to pre-pandemic levels. The modest economic rebound
pushed nominal GDP per capita to US$502 in 2021 from US$466 in 2020, but there has been no growth in
real GDP per capita. Nearly 50 percent of the population is food insecure and over 1 million people
displaced from their homes since 2021. This growing size of the internally displaced population is likely to
contribute to greater vulnerability and poverty overall. Increasing remittance inflows and grants (jointly
estimated at 60 percent of GDP) as well as the government’s social protection program, Baxnaano, are
providing some relief to the challenging economic situation.

Somalia is highly vulnerable and impacted by climate change with high reliance on natural resources
for productive livelihoods. The country has experienced more than 30 climate-related hazards since 1990,
including 12 droughts and 19 floods. These occurred alongside crises in livestock systems, weak
governance, debilitating poverty and violent, multi-layered conflicts. Flood hazard risks, likely to intensify
and become more frequent, are particularly high in cropped areas in the southwest. Other parts of the
southwest, along with the middle and northwest are the most drought-prone. The Center for Global
Development ranks Somalia as the most vulnerable country to climate change among 167 countries,
adjusted for coping capacity.